Butchart Gardens & the rest of Victoria

On Saturday we went to the gardens. They are about 40 minutes outside of Victoria by city bus. Although Dr. P was concerned that everything would have been killed off by the cold nights, the flowers were still blooming apace, with only a small trace of fall color. Apparently, the garden is actually quite nice year-round. And in December they even have an outdoor skating pond! There are several different gardens. Our favorite was the sunken garden, terraced inside an old limestone quarry.

Then there was the dahlia garden – with every possible variety of dahlia under the sun.

And the Japanese Garden.

And the Italian Garden.

There were also beautiful flowers throughout, lining the pathways between these gardens.Also, totem poles.

And lots of bees.

We had a lovely sunset walk around Victoria, followed by a super-yummy Italian dinner. On the way back to our great little hotel, we also got to see the Parliament building all lit up.

On Sunday we went to the Royal BC Museum. The museum was really neat, with lots of exhibits about the environment and the First Nations Peoples.

Also, in Canada they have funny bike racks.And then we rode the boat back. And I didn't even get sick.